This mom-of-two is the country’s first civilian BASE jumper

Meet Archana Sardana, India’s first civilian Building Aerial Span Earth (BASE) jumper

If you’ve seen the Red Bull videos of stunts that push the boundary of fear, you’d assume it’s a 20-something performing it. But Archana Sardana is a mother of two boys, ages 19 and 17. She ventured into the world of extreme sports only after she married a Naval officer. The kids love that their mother is into cool, fearless “stuff”.

Archana is India’s first civilian Building Aerial Span Earth (BASE) jumper. A BASE jump involves climbing up a high structure like a bridge, a building, or a cliff. Then, you jump off and deploy a parachute to land. “When I am preparing to jump, I just clear my mind and focus on the jump. If I start thinking about other things, I’d never get take the plunge,” she says. The equipment costs about ₹6 lakhs, so she always rents it.

This mom-of-two is the country’s first civilian BASE jumper

It takes at least 200 skydives to even qualify for BASE-jumping training. Then you need to clear eight levels and some coach jumps to call yourself a BASE jumper. She has braved skydiving 335 times. It took her seven trips to the US to learn skydiving and BASE jumping. It wasn’t easy financially. She raised money through a loan against her wedding jewellery and her home.

All this risk-taking is backed by solid training. Archana, based in Greater Noida, is also a trained mountaineer. Because she gets bored easily, she also trained as a scuba-diving instructor, and runs a mainland scuba-diving training centre in Noida called Archana Sardana Scuba Diving Academy, where training begins in a swimming pool.

Her advice to those looking for adventure is simple: “Pack your bags and leave to find what excites you.” She suggests thoroughly researching the service provider to ensure they take all safety measures. “Taking risks doesn’t imply ignoring safety,” she says.

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